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			<h1 id="firstHeading" class="firstHeading">Plug-in (computing)</h1>
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<i>List of Web Browser Plug-ins</i></div>
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<p>In <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computing" title="Computing">computing</a>, a <b>plug-in</b> is a set of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Software_component" title="Software component" class="mw-redirect">software components</a> that adds specific capabilities to a larger <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Software_application" title="Software application" class="mw-redirect">software application</a>. If supported, plug-ins enable customizing the functionality of an application. For example, plug-ins are commonly used in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Web_browser" title="Web browser">web browsers</a> to play video, scan for viruses, and display new file types. Well-known plug-ins examples are the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adobe_Flash_Player" title="Adobe Flash Player">Adobe Flash Player</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adobe_Acrobat" title="Adobe Acrobat">Adobe Acrobat</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/QuickTime" title="QuickTime">QuickTime</a> and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microsoft_Office_2007" title="Microsoft Office 2007">Microsoft Office 2007</a>.</p>
<p>Add-on is often considered the general term comprising snap-ins, plug-ins, extensions, and themes.<sup id="cite_ref-amo-def_0-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-amo-def-0"><span>[</span>1<span>]</span></a></sup></p>
<table id="toc" class="toc">
<tbody><tr>
<td>
<div id="toctitle">
<h2>Contents</h2>
 <span class="toctoggle">[<a href="#" class="internal" id="togglelink">hide</a>]</span></div>
<ul>
<li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-1"><a href="#Purpose_and_examples"><span class="tocnumber">1</span> <span class="toctext">Purpose and examples</span></a></li>
<li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-2"><a href="#Mechanism"><span class="tocnumber">2</span> <span class="toctext">Mechanism</span></a></li>
<li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-3"><a href="#Plug-ins_and_extensions"><span class="tocnumber">3</span> <span class="toctext">Plug-ins and extensions</span></a></li>
<li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-4"><a href="#History"><span class="tocnumber">4</span> <span class="toctext">History</span></a></li>
<li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-5"><a href="#Plug-in_frameworks"><span class="tocnumber">5</span> <span class="toctext">Plug-in frameworks</span></a>
<ul>
<li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-6"><a href="#C.2B.2B"><span class="tocnumber">5.1</span> <span class="toctext">C++</span></a></li>
<li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-7"><a href="#Delphi"><span class="tocnumber">5.2</span> <span class="toctext">Delphi</span></a></li>
<li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-8"><a href="#Java"><span class="tocnumber">5.3</span> <span class="toctext">Java</span></a></li>
<li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-9"><a href="#PHP"><span class="tocnumber">5.4</span> <span class="toctext">PHP</span></a></li>
<li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-10"><a href="#Python"><span class="tocnumber">5.5</span> <span class="toctext">Python</span></a></li>
<li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-11"><a href="#.NET"><span class="tocnumber">5.6</span> <span class="toctext">.NET</span></a></li>
</ul>
</li>
<li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-12"><a href="#See_also"><span class="tocnumber">6</span> <span class="toctext">See also</span></a></li>
<li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-13"><a href="#References"><span class="tocnumber">7</span> <span class="toctext">References</span></a></li>
</ul>
</td>
</tr>
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<h2><span class="editsection">[<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Plug-in_%28computing%29&amp;action=edit&amp;section=1" title="Edit section: Purpose and examples">edit</a>]</span> <span class="mw-headline" id="Purpose_and_examples">Purpose and examples</span></h2>
<p>Applications support plug-ins for many reasons. Some of the main reasons include:</p>
<ul>
<li>to enable <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Third-party_developer" title="Third-party developer" class="mw-redirect">third-party developers</a> to create capabilities which extend an application</li>
<li>to support easily adding new features</li>
<li>to reduce the size of an application</li>
<li>to separate <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Source_code" title="Source code">source code</a> from an application because of incompatible <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Software_license" title="Software license">software licenses</a>.</li>
</ul>
<p>Specific examples of applications and why they use plug-ins:</p>
<ul>
<li><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Email_client" title="Email client">Email clients</a> use plug-ins to decrypt and encrypt email (<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pretty_Good_Privacy" title="Pretty Good Privacy">Pretty Good Privacy</a>)</li>
<li><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Graphics_software" title="Graphics software">Graphics software</a> use plug-ins to support file formats and process images (<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adobe_Photoshop" title="Adobe Photoshop">Adobe Photoshop</a>)</li>
<li><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Media_player_%28application_software%29" title="Media player (application software)">Media players</a> use plug-ins to support file formats and apply filters (<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foobar2000" title="Foobar2000">foobar2000</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GStreamer" title="GStreamer">GStreamer</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quintessential_Media_Player" title="Quintessential Media Player" class="mw-redirect">Quintessential</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virtual_Studio_Technology" title="Virtual Studio Technology">VST</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winamp" title="Winamp">Winamp</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/XMMS" title="XMMS">XMMS</a>)</li>
<li><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microsoft_Office" title="Microsoft Office">Microsoft Office</a> uses plug-ins (better known as <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microsoft_Office#Extensibility" title="Microsoft Office">add-ins</a>) to extend the capabilities of its application by adding custom commands and specialized features</li>
<li><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Packet_sniffer" title="Packet sniffer" class="mw-redirect">Packet sniffers</a> use plug-ins to decode packet formats (<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OmniPeek" title="OmniPeek">OmniPeek</a>)</li>
<li><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Remote_sensing_application" title="Remote sensing application">Remote sensing applications</a> use plug-ins to process data from different sensor types (<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opticks_%28Software%29" title="Opticks (Software)" class="mw-redirect">Opticks</a>)</li>
<li><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Integrated_development_environment" title="Integrated development environment">Software development environments</a> use plug-ins to support <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Programming_languages" title="Programming languages" class="mw-redirect">programming languages</a> (<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eclipse_%28computing%29" title="Eclipse (computing)" class="mw-redirect">Eclipse</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/JEdit" title="JEdit">jEdit</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MonoDevelop" title="MonoDevelop">MonoDevelop</a>)</li>
<li><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Venue_%28sound_system%29" title="Venue (sound system)">Venue</a>, a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_mixing_console" title="Digital mixing console">digital mixing console</a> architecture developed by <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digidesign" title="Digidesign">Digidesign</a> and owned by <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avid_Technology" title="Avid Technology">Avid Technology</a>, allows third party plug-ins</li>
<li><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Web_browser" title="Web browser">Web browsers</a> use plug-ins to play video and presentation formats (<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adobe_Flash" title="Adobe Flash">Flash</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/QuickTime" title="QuickTime">QuickTime</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microsoft_Silverlight" title="Microsoft Silverlight">Microsoft Silverlight</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/3DMLW" title="3DMLW">3DMLW</a>)</li>
</ul>
<h2><span class="editsection">[<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Plug-in_%28computing%29&amp;action=edit&amp;section=2" title="Edit section: Mechanism">edit</a>]</span> <span class="mw-headline" id="Mechanism">Mechanism</span></h2>
<div class="thumb tright">
<div class="thumbinner" style="width: 467px;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Plug-InExample.png" class="image"><img alt="" src="Plug-in_%28computing%29_files/Plug-InExample.png" class="thumbimage" height="317" width="465"></a>
<div class="thumbcaption"><i>Example Plug-In Framework</i></div>
</div>
</div>
<p>As shown in the figure, the host application provides services which 
the plug-in can use, including a way for plug-ins to register themselves
 with the host application and a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Protocol_%28computing%29" title="Protocol (computing)" class="mw-redirect">protocol</a>
 for the exchange of data with plug-ins. Plug-ins depend on the services
 provided by the host application and do not usually work by themselves.
 Conversely, the host application operates independently of the 
plug-ins, making it possible for end-users to add and update plug-ins 
dynamically without needing to make changes to the host application.<sup id="cite_ref-amo-def_0-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-amo-def-0"><span>[</span>1<span>]</span></a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-wordpress-def_1-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-wordpress-def-1"><span>[</span>2<span>]</span></a></sup></p>
<p>Open <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Application_programming_interface" title="Application programming interface">application programming interfaces</a> (APIs) provide a standard interface, allowing <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Third_parties" title="Third parties" class="mw-redirect">third parties</a> to create plug-ins that interact with the host application. A stable <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/API" title="API" class="mw-redirect">API</a> allows third-party plug-ins to continue to function as the original version changes and to extend the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Software_release_life_cycle" title="Software release life cycle">life-cycle</a> of obsolete applications. The <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adobe_Photoshop" title="Adobe Photoshop">Adobe Photoshop</a> and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adobe_After_Effects" title="Adobe After Effects">After Effects</a> plug-in APIs have become a standard<sup id="cite_ref-photoshop-def_2-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-photoshop-def-2"><span>[</span>3<span>]</span></a></sup> and competing applications such as <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corel_Paint_Shop_Pro" title="Corel Paint Shop Pro">Corel Paint Shop Pro</a> have adopted them.</p>
<h2><span class="editsection">[<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Plug-in_%28computing%29&amp;action=edit&amp;section=3" title="Edit section: Plug-ins and extensions">edit</a>]</span> <span class="mw-headline" id="Plug-ins_and_extensions">Plug-ins and extensions</span></h2>
<p><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Software_extension" title="Software extension">Extensions</a>
 differ slightly from plug-ins. Plug-ins usually have a narrow set of 
capability. For example, the original impetus behind the development of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mozilla_Firefox" title="Mozilla Firefox">Mozilla Firefox</a>
 was the pursuit of a small baseline application, leaving exotic or 
personalized functionality to be implemented by extensions to avoid <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feature_creep" title="Feature creep">feature creep</a>. This is in contrast to the "<a href="http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/everything_but_the_kitchen_sink" class="extiw" title="wikt:everything but the kitchen sink">kitchen sink</a>" approach in its predecessors, the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mozilla_Application_Suite" title="Mozilla Application Suite">Mozilla Application Suite</a> and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Netscape_%28browser%29#Mozilla_Application_Suite-based_releases" title="Netscape (browser)" class="mw-redirect">Netscape 6 and 7</a>. Therefore, after integration, extensions can be seen as part of the browser itself, tailored from a set of optional modules.</p>
<p>Firefox also supports plug-ins using <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NPAPI" title="NPAPI">NPAPI</a>.
 When the browser encounters references to content a plug-in specializes
 in, the data is handed off to be processed by that plug-in. Since there
 is generally a clear separation between the browser and the plug-in, 
the results are discrete objects embedded within a webpage. The same 
distinction between plug-ins and extensions is in use by other web 
browsers, such as Microsoft Internet Explorer, where a typical extension
 might be a new <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toolbar" title="Toolbar">toolbar</a>,
 and a plug-in might embed a video player on the page. Since plug-ins 
and extensions both increase the utility of the original application, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mozilla" title="Mozilla">Mozilla</a> uses the term <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Add-on_%28Mozilla%29" title="Add-on (Mozilla)">"add-on"</a> as an inclusive category of augmentation modules that consists of plug-ins, themes, and search engines...</p>
<h2><span class="editsection">[<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Plug-in_%28computing%29&amp;action=edit&amp;section=4" title="Edit section: History">edit</a>]</span> <span class="mw-headline" id="History">History</span></h2>
<p>Plug-ins appeared as early as the mid 1970s, when the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EDT_text_editor" title="EDT text editor" class="mw-redirect">EDT</a> <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Text_editor" title="Text editor">text editor</a> running on the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unisys" title="Unisys">Unisys</a> <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VS/9" title="VS/9">VS/9</a> <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operating_system" title="Operating system">operating system</a> using the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Univac_90/60" title="Univac 90/60" class="mw-redirect">Univac 90/60</a> series <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mainframe_computer" title="Mainframe computer">mainframe computer</a>
 provided the ability to run a program from the editor and to allow such
 a program to access the editor buffer, thus allowing an external 
program to access an edit session in memory. The plug-in program could 
make calls to the editor to have it perform text-editing services upon 
the buffer that the editor shared with the plug-in. The <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_Waterloo" title="University of Waterloo">Waterloo</a> Fortran <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compiler" title="Compiler">compiler</a> used this feature to allow interactive compilation of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fortran" title="Fortran">Fortran</a> programs edited by EDT.</p>
<p>Very early <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Personal_computer" title="Personal computer">PC</a> software applications to incorporate plug-in functionality included <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HyperCard" title="HyperCard">HyperCard</a> and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/QuarkXPress" title="QuarkXPress">QuarkXPress</a> on the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apple_Macintosh" title="Apple Macintosh" class="mw-redirect">Macintosh</a>, both released in 1987. In 1988, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silicon_Beach_Software" title="Silicon Beach Software">Silicon Beach Software</a> included plug-in functionality in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_Darkroom" title="Digital Darkroom">Digital Darkroom</a> and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SuperPaint" title="SuperPaint">SuperPaint</a>, and Ed Bomke coined the term <i>plug-in</i>.</p>
<p>Currently<sup class="plainlinks noprint asof-tag update" style="display: none;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Plug-in_%28computing%29&amp;action=edit" class="external text" rel="nofollow">[update]</a></sup>, programmers typically implement plug-in functionality using <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shared_library" title="Shared library" class="mw-redirect">shared libraries</a>
 compulsorily installed in a place prescribed by the host application. 
HyperCard supported a similar facility, but more commonly included the 
plug-in code in the HyperCard documents (called <i>stacks</i>) 
themselves. Thus the HyperCard stack became a self-contained application
 in its own right, distributable as a single entity that end-users could
 run without the need for additional installation-steps.</p>
<h2><span class="editsection">[<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Plug-in_%28computing%29&amp;action=edit&amp;section=5" title="Edit section: Plug-in frameworks">edit</a>]</span> <span class="mw-headline" id="Plug-in_frameworks">Plug-in frameworks</span></h2>
<p>Software developers can use the following plug-in frameworks (organized here by <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Programming_language" title="Programming language">programming language</a>) to add plug-in capability to their applications:</p>
<h3><span class="editsection">[<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Plug-in_%28computing%29&amp;action=edit&amp;section=6" title="Edit section: C++">edit</a>]</span> <span class="mw-headline" id="C.2B.2B">C++</span></h3>
<ul>
<li><a href="http://blog.redshoelace.com/" class="external text" rel="nofollow">Boost Extension</a>- Boost C++ plug-in framework, available from boost sandbox</li>
<li><a href="http://www.smprocess.com/" class="external text" rel="nofollow">FxEngine Framework</a>—Open C++ dataflow processing framework for audio, video, signal, etc.</li>
<li><a href="http://trolltech.com/products/qt" class="external text" rel="nofollow">Qt Plug-Ins</a>—part of Nokia's Qt Framework</li>
<li><a href="http://mypeek.wildpackets.com/view_submission.php?id=78" class="external text" rel="nofollow">OmniPeek Plug-in Wizard</a>—creates plug-ins for WildPackets' OmniPeek Network Analyzer</li>
<li><a href="http://pugg.sourceforge.net/" class="external text" rel="nofollow">Pugg</a> open Source C++ framework for plug-in management</li>
<li><a href="http://openfx.sourceforge.net/" class="external text" rel="nofollow">OFX</a> an open standard for visual effects plug-ins.</li>
<li><a href="http://i.cmpnet.com/ddj/images/article/2008/code/plugin.zip" class="external text" rel="nofollow">A cross-platform plug-in framework</a> accompanying a <a href="http://www.drdobbs.com/cpp/204202899" class="external text" rel="nofollow">series of articles</a> by Gigi Sayfan in <a href="http://www.drdobbs.com/" class="external text" rel="nofollow">Dr. Dobb's Journal</a>.</li>
</ul>
<h3><span class="editsection">[<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Plug-in_%28computing%29&amp;action=edit&amp;section=7" title="Edit section: Delphi">edit</a>]</span> <span class="mw-headline" id="Delphi">Delphi</span></h3>
<ul>
<li><a href="http://www.tmssoftware.com/tpf.htm" class="external text" rel="nofollow">TMS Plug-in Framework</a></li>
</ul>
<h3><span class="editsection">[<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Plug-in_%28computing%29&amp;action=edit&amp;section=8" title="Edit section: Java">edit</a>]</span> <span class="mw-headline" id="Java">Java</span></h3>
<ul>
<li><a href="http://jpf.sourceforge.net/" class="external text" rel="nofollow">Java Plug-in Framework</a> (JPF), a plug-in mechanism adapted from <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eclipse_%28software%29" title="Eclipse (software)">Eclipse</a>'s plug-in mechanism from its pre-<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OSGi" title="OSGi">OSGi</a> era.</li>
<li><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OSGi" title="OSGi">OSGi</a>, a standardized dynamic component system suited for plug-in programming, used in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eclipse_%28software%29" title="Eclipse (software)">Eclipse</a>, many commercial <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Java_EE" title="Java EE" class="mw-redirect">Java EE</a> application servers, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spring_Framework" title="Spring Framework">Spring Framework</a>, and embedded applications.</li>
<li><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rich_Client_Platform" title="Rich Client Platform">Rich Client Platform</a> (RCP), platform for applications adapted from <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eclipse_%28software%29" title="Eclipse (software)">Eclipse</a>, applications are written as plug-ins and may themselves have further plug-ins</li>
<li><a href="http://code.google.com/p/jin-plugin/" class="external text" rel="nofollow">jin-plugin</a> a minimalistic plugin framework for Java and PHP</li>
<li><a href="http://platform.netbeans.org/" class="external text" rel="nofollow">Netbeans Platform</a>
 Most commonly known for the Netbeans IDE, which in fact is an 
application that is build on the Netbeans Platform. The netbeans 
platform is an framework that allows developers to make modules, plugin 
for other NB applications(usually a group of interacting modules) and 
complete applications like the netbeans IDE.</li>
</ul>
<h3><span class="editsection">[<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Plug-in_%28computing%29&amp;action=edit&amp;section=9" title="Edit section: PHP">edit</a>]</span> <span class="mw-headline" id="PHP">PHP</span></h3>
<ul>
<li><a href="http://code.google.com/p/jin-plugin/" class="external text" rel="nofollow">jin-plugin</a> a minimalistic plugin framework for Java and PHP</li>
</ul>
<h3><span class="editsection">[<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Plug-in_%28computing%29&amp;action=edit&amp;section=10" title="Edit section: Python">edit</a>]</span> <span class="mw-headline" id="Python">Python</span></h3>
<ul>
<li><a href="http://svn.enthought.com/enthought/wiki/EnvisageThree/Index" class="external text" rel="nofollow">Envisage</a></li>
<li>Colony Framework, a plug-in framework that takes inspiration from <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OSGi" title="OSGi">OSGi</a> and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eclipse_%28software%29" title="Eclipse (software)">Eclipse</a> RCP simplifying the concepts of both and adapting them to the Pythonic philosophy</li>
<li><a href="https://software.sandia.gov/trac/pyutilib" class="external text" rel="nofollow">PyUtilib</a>, a plug-in system that is based on <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trac" title="Trac">Trac</a>. <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trac" title="Trac">Trac</a> component architecture is simplified <a href="http://www.zope.org/" class="external text" rel="nofollow">Zope Component Architecture</a></li>
<li><a href="http://peak.telecommunity.com/DevCenter/setuptools" class="external text" rel="nofollow">Setuptools</a></li>
<li><a href="http://cheeseshop.python.org/pypi/sprinkles/" class="external text" rel="nofollow">Sprinkles</a></li>
<li><a href="http://twistedmatrix.com/projects/core/documentation/howto/plugin.html" class="external text" rel="nofollow">The Twisted Plug-in System</a></li>
<li><a href="http://yapsy.sourceforge.net/" class="external text" rel="nofollow">Yapsy</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.zope.org/" class="external text" rel="nofollow">Zope Component Architecture</a></li>
</ul>
<h3><span class="editsection">[<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Plug-in_%28computing%29&amp;action=edit&amp;section=11" title="Edit section: .NET">edit</a>]</span> <span class="mw-headline" id=".NET">.NET</span></h3>
<ul>
<li><a href="http://blogs.msdn.com/clraddins/default.aspx" class="external text" rel="nofollow">.NET Add-In Team Blog</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.agile-sys.com/download.php" class="external text" rel="nofollow">AL Platform</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.codeproject.com/KB/macros/Net_AddinProjFrmwork.aspx" class="external text" rel="nofollow">Code Project</a> .NET Based Plug-in Framework</li>
<li><a href="http://monoaddins.codeplex.com/" class="external text" rel="nofollow">Mono Add-ins</a>—an add-in framework for .NET and Mono</li>
<li><a href="http://ase.jku.at/plux/index.html" class="external text" rel="nofollow">Plux.NET</a>—A Platform for Building Plug-in Systems Under .NET</li>
<li><a href="http://www.codeplex.com/MEF" class="external text" rel="nofollow">Managed Extensibility Framework</a>—Managed Extensibility Framework</li>
<li><a href="http://compactplugs.codeplex.com/" class="external text" rel="nofollow">Compact Plugs</a>— Compact Plugs</li>
</ul>
<h2><span class="editsection">[<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Plug-in_%28computing%29&amp;action=edit&amp;section=12" title="Edit section: See also">edit</a>]</span> <span class="mw-headline" id="See_also">See also</span></h2>
<table class="metadata mbox-small plainlinks" style="border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); background-color: rgb(249, 249, 249);">
<tbody><tr>
<td class="mbox-image"><img alt="" src="Plug-in_%28computing%29_files/37px-Wiktionary-logo-en.png" height="40" width="37"></td>
<td class="mbox-text" style="">Look up <i><b><a href="http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/plug-in" class="extiw" title="wiktionary:plug-in">plug-in</a></b></i> in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wiktionary" title="Wiktionary">Wiktionary</a>, the free dictionary.</td>
</tr>
</tbody></table>
<table class="metadata mbox-small plainlinks" style="border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); background-color: rgb(249, 249, 249);">
<tbody><tr>
<td class="mbox-image"><img alt="" src="Plug-in_%28computing%29_files/37px-Wiktionary-logo-en.png" height="40" width="37"></td>
<td class="mbox-text" style="">Look up <i><b><a href="http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/add-on" class="extiw" title="wiktionary:add-on">add-on</a></b></i> in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wiktionary" title="Wiktionary">Wiktionary</a>, the free dictionary.</td>
</tr>
</tbody></table>
<ul>
<li><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Applet" title="Applet">Applet</a></li>
<li><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Library_%28computing%29" title="Library (computing)">Shared library</a></li>
</ul>
<h2><span class="editsection">[<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Plug-in_%28computing%29&amp;action=edit&amp;section=13" title="Edit section: References">edit</a>]</span> <span class="mw-headline" id="References">References</span></h2>
<ol class="references">
<li id="cite_note-amo-def-0">^ <a href="#cite_ref-amo-def_0-0"><sup><i><b>a</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-amo-def_0-1"><sup><i><b>b</b></i></sup></a> <a href="https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/browse/type:7" class="external text" rel="nofollow">Mozilla Firefox plugins</a> - Description of the difference between Mozilla Firefox plugins and extensions under the general term <i>add-on</i>.</li>
<li id="cite_note-wordpress-def-1"><b><a href="#cite_ref-wordpress-def_1-0">^</a></b> <a href="http://codex.wordpress.org/Plugin_API" class="external text" rel="nofollow">Wordpress Plug-in API</a> - Description of the Wordpress Plug-in architecture.</li>
<li id="cite_note-photoshop-def-2"><b><a href="#cite_ref-photoshop-def_2-0">^</a></b> <a href="http://www.mactech.com/articles/mactech/Vol.15/15.04/PhotoshopPlug-InsPart1/" class="external text" rel="nofollow">Photoshop Plug-ins</a> - Description of the siginificant impact of Photoshop Plug-in Architecture.</li>
</ol>


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